Coastguard Whakatāne has installed two new live-feed cameras thanks to funding support from Toi Moana Bay of Plenty Regional Council.
The cameras provide better visibility and coverage of crucial areas around the Whakatāne Harbour bar. One camera replaces the existing 10-year-old bar camera to deliver higher quality images. The second camera pans across the navigational area – The Narrows – at the mouth of the Whakatāne River, to highlight potentially hazardous conditions (such as turbulence and standing waves).
“These cameras provide really useful information to our boating community, especially when it comes to helping them make well-informed decisions about navigating the Whakatāne Harbour bar and The Narrows leading up to it,” said Coastguard Whakatāne President, Jim Williamson.
Bay of Plenty Harbourmaster, Jon Jon Peters said the organisation was delighted to support the Whakatāne Coastguard in making the cameras a reality.
“These cameras, combined with up-to-the-minute weather forecasts, tide information, and wave buoy data, give skippers a comprehensive toolkit to evaluate sea conditions before choosing to head out or not,” he said.
The live feed from the cameras is mobile-friendly and can be accessed free of charge on the Coastguard Whakatāne website.
Harbour cam
Multi-view cam
Further details on how to cross a bar safely can be found on the Bay of Plenty Regional Council website and Coastguard Whakatāne regularly offers seminars in crossing the Whakatāne bar.
